Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Why Go to College at All?

Is college worth it? High school seniors anxiously awaiting admissions decisions might find that question bizarre, but recently some strenuous arguments have been leveled against the value of a college degree.

Tyler DriscollDale J. Stephens

For more insight into those arguments, we turned to Dale J. Stephens, 20, the founder of UnCollege, which urges students to “hack their education” by finding their own pathways to success. Mr. Stephens, 20, is a Thiel fellow who spent his middle and high school years “unschooling,” and then left college after a brief time there.

Mr. Stephens envisions “a world where people make their own decisions,” where college is not a foregone conclusion and young people forge their own paths to fulfillment.

We asked Mr. Stephens for his responses to the five main arguments most often given for going to college. Here’s what he had to say.

Reason 1: Learning in a rigorous, supported educational environment

“If you want to learn, college is the last place you should go,” Mr. Stephens said. “A lot of learning isn’t happening on college campuses.”

That may sound surprising, given that college is virtually defined as an institution devoted to nourishing learning and intellectualism.

Not true, Mr. Stephens said. “What you learn in college is generally the same skill set that you learn in a traditional school environment,” he said. “You learn how to follow directions, meet deadlines and memorize facts.”

Although college provides structure and resources for learning, “I don’t know that structure is a good thing,” he said. “When you go out into the world, there’s no structure like that. A job doesn’t give you a syllabus.” He added, “Learners should be able to access resources on their own terms.” He described initiatives that provide laboratory, research and other facilities to the general public. Although these are not yet widely available, he said, they seem to be growing.

And he criticized the education system – and standardized testing in particular – for being “efficient but not effective.” His ideal is self-directed education forged on the principles of project-based learning, perhaps with the guidance of mentors.

Reason 2: Socializing and developing a network of friends and contacts

Mr. Stephens said that many have advised him that he’s missing out by not going to college, where, the rationale goes, he could be meeting women and drinking beer. His retort: “I like guys and Champagne.”

Underlying this flip yet frank answer is his conviction that the social world of college is a self-selecting, largely homogenous “bubble.”

“You might end up limiting yourself if you only socialize with people on your dorm floor and in your classes,” he said. Campus demographics might be diverse, he said, but “people are still there for the same reason.” In contrast, he said, unschooling has allowed him to actively seek opportunities to meet people who travel different walks in life.

As for the value of making connections in college to nurture a professional network, people are increasingly using social media resources like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to make connections, Mr. Stephens said.

Reason 3: Status

“I think that’s the most valid reason to go to college,” Mr. Stephens allowed. “If you can go to a top school, by all means, go. It doesn’t mean that you need to finish.” A semester or two may be all you need, he said, to gain the advantages associated with the school’s name brand.

Reason 4: Self-discovery

Many college graduates believe that they discovered themselves in their years on campus. But Mr. Stephens said the typical student’s lack of real responsibility, coupled with an emphasis on rote memorization and test taking, hampers true personal growth.

“College is a sandbox that gives you a false sense of reality,” he said. “It’s much more beneficial to learn what it means to direct your own life.” Learners are better off spending early adulthood developing self-reliance, he said.

Self-discovery might best be achieved doing something constructive, he argued, like creating a start-up.

The idea of taking a gap year off from school to explore the world and find yourself raised his hackles. “Why does it have to be a year off? Why can’t it be a year on? Why should you have to take time out of the system to engage?” he asked.

Statistics show that college graduation correlates positively with economic factors like lower rates of unemployment and higher earnings.

The key factor may be not the degree itself but the degree earner, Mr. Stephens contended. “It’s not that college creates success,” he said. “It’s that smart and motivated people in our society tend to go to college. I bet if you took those smart and motivated people and put them out into the work force, they would earn more than other people.”

He believes that typical college coursework is largely divorced from reality: “Taking a psychology course doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to work as a psychologist.” Better to observe, shadow and perhaps intern with professionals, he said, noting that coursework or a degree may be required to enter a profession or gain licensing.

He also took issue with some of the data, noting, “The lower unemployment rates are only for college graduates over 25.” (Indeed, as The Times reported last spring, only slightly more than 55 percent of young college graduates are working in jobs that require a college degree.) He thought one reason might be that young graduates simply aren’t developing useful skills in college.

Rising levels of college debt, he said, further complicate the financial picture for college graduates. Young people might look at the time and money they would invest in a college education and determine a better way to use those resources.

In the end, perhaps the point that Mr. Stephens most wanted to make is that even those who opt for college should reflect on their goals and make good, clear-eyed decisions. “Understand why you’re going so you can make the most of your experience. Be honest about it,” he said.

Why go to college? What are (or were) your personal reasons? Share your thoughts on your own education and on Mr. Stephens’s points in the comment box below.

Funny how this child seems to know so much about college after spending a “brief time there.” I’ve known several unschooled kids who have a lot of opinions about institutions they’ve never set foot in.

All colleges are not the same, by any means. All college students are not the same; all majors are not the same, and it might surprise Mr. Stephens to know that not everyone at every college is interested in beer.

Get an internship with a psychologist if that’s the field you’re interested in? Just who is going to get that internship? A kid with a GED (unless getting a GED is too stultifying for you) or a college student majoring in psychology? Hmmm. Unschoolers are severely limited in terms of what fields they can ever hope to enter.

Yes, college debt is a huge problem–and we should be voting for candidates who appreciate that the government needs to strengthen federal aid to students–and maybe some kids would be better served by using that money for other pursuits. But not everyone. It’s just not that simple.

By all means, don’t go to college if you don’t want to, but it sounds silly to opine about it when you have such limited experience with it.

Tom Friedman’s NYTimes OpEd article January 25th, 2012 cited current unemployment statistics for those over 25: Less than high school 13.8%, high school grad 8.7%, some college 7.7%, college degree 4.1%.
Mr.Stephens asks: WHY GO TO COLLEGE?
One answer: A college grad is much more likely to survive a recession without losing his/her job.

Bravo! There are three children in my family: my brother, who is a successful stockbroker… my sister, who retired at 45 after being VP of sales and marketing responsible for 600+ employees for a major theme park… and yours truly, a well-compensated advertising consultant. Two of the three of us did not graduate from college. Betcha can’t guess which one did!

Wow. I think there are plenty of good reasons not to go to college, but I don’t think this guy is aware of any of them, and has an almost entirely false view of what college is like for anybody but low achieving partiers.

There is a vast empirical literature in economics on this question that the author should mention. There is a strong consensus that going to college significantly improves economic outcomes even conditional on personal characteristics.

My father became a lawyer, never attended college, went and graduated from St. Johns Law School and became a very successful lawyer. Today law firms know that recent law school grads have no working knowledge of the day to day work the lawyer needs to do, and so the law firm hires the graduate based on their potential, garnered from grades, and then spends two or three years teaching the new lawyer how to actually practice law in the real world.

On the other hand building contractors have no formal educational training in their field, and the consumer complaints for their industry exceed every other industry showing that without foraml training incompetence reigns. Many tradesmen never read the instructions for how to do te job they’re charging people as a professional to do. But the cost of college today has passed the point of sense for most people, and the computer makes learning on ones own, if they apply themselves at least as good, and perhaps even more effective. And when you’re done you’re not in debt up to your eyeballs and living at home with Mom & Dad because you can’t afford to live on your own. For most people the college sheepskin just ain’t what she used to be.

“If you want to learn, college is the last place you should go,” Mr. Stephens said. “A lot of learning isn’t happening on college campuses.”

That’s a factual claim that is simply untrue. Although I don’t think one has to attend college to assess that fact (or to “learn” per se), his failure to attend college makes that argument hard to buy. It sounds like his perception of college is colored by his peers descriptions of their experience. Those data points–coupled by his learning by description–is a poor way to evaluate what is actually happening at college.

On the other hand, I’m happy he is trying to do something different. Educational reform is long overdue. Yet, as a 20 year old, he has absolutely no idea what the world is like or what purposes or functions education fulfills in one’s life. Perhaps school is too expensive to justify the cost for some people. Fine. But the idea that learning doesn’t take place at college is wrong.

I admire Mr. Stephens independence of spirit, but college has tremendous advantages. The problem is that it’s becoming too espensive. Yes, it is a place where you have “follow directions, meet deadlines and memorize facts.” These things are handy in, say, a job. A large group of equally bright peers will give you a reality check, and one cannot discount having access to scholars who have spent a lifetime in their fields. Of course, if you’re just clipping stock coupons, none of this applies.

Why no mention of finding and reading books? Why is finding “a path to success” defined as the issue and not education?

I’m afraid Stephens could use a good course in logic. If there are college students who are passive and undisciplined, that doesn’t mean a college education rewards passivity––let alone requires it. Any decent school offers countless chances for students to pursue “self-directed, project-based learning, perhaps with the guidance of mentors” (Stephens ideal). If someone wants to develop self-reliance, there is no reason why she couldn’t the the complex, varied environment of a good university as the place to pursue it. The notion that a young person who makes no effort to shape his own education in college would, if he stepped outside of higher ed, suddenly become self-directed, curious and innovative just isn’t plausible.

Much more could be said about the desirability of attending college and the costs and trade-offs associated with institutional learning as opposed to a more free-form approach to education, but it all hinges on personal motivation. A motivated learner, particularly one from a supportive and educated (in the broad sense) family, can fare very well without a college degree. However, the same individual would, I believe, fare just as well in college. Those who see college as a place where an education is given will inevitably receive the same watered-down sop their peers are receiving. However, students who see college as a place where an education must be taken will be high achievers (not just in terms of GPA or test scores, but in terms of the range and diversity of experiences they garner for themselves). Similarly, a college student who is content to passively accepts their education will achieve little, but so will the same student if he or she chooses passivity in the so-called “real world”. In the final analysis you might argue that forgoing college will push more of those with a tendency to be passive (the majority) to become actively engaged (particularly as they learn some of the hard-knock lessons of life), but I am not sure it is valid to argue that college has no value–it’s just another experience.

On a side note, and in full disclosure, I attended college, but much later in life than my peers. I had already been in the “real world” for five years before I decided to attend college (excluding a stint at a community college earlier on) and I firmly believe this gave me the perspective and the motivation to actively pursue my education. It also helped that my opportunity cost was high–college caused me to forgo a good salary and more time with my family.

I have taught chemistry at the college/university level for about a quarter of a century, and before that at the college-preparatory level for another 6 years. I possess the cherished fetishist goodies of a Ph.D, an M.A., and an M.Div. (The latter quite likely not so cherished, and with good reason.) I am now thankfully retired from this rat-race. I entirely agree with Mr. Stephens’ valuations of college life. It is a prolonged and needless extension of immaturity at the end of which the victorious claimants of a silly medieval gown and hat know not at all how better to spell (absent a spell-checker) or to add and subtract (absent their calculator, fingers, or toes) despite a 4 year extraordinarily wasteful expenditure of money, then they did at the outset.

Sure, what Mr. Stephens says is true and doable. But hegemony is also at work here. Any kid who colors outisde of the lines understands that concept. So if you aren’t as self-possessed as he, or have the backing of a group of friends or adults that can support you when the turkeys get you down, it’s a constant, lifelong battle. Most people aren’t like-minded or capable of independent thought, regardless of their education. I steered the middle path, getting a degree at a brand name school, but still maintaining some indepedence and benefiting from that. I’ve been lucky and met some great people. But starting off with a supportive foundation for independent thought gives a young person a huge boost. Oh, and not everyone want to and has the capacity to see through a start-up.

I find Dale Stephens argument irrational. He never considers Ph.D. degrees where research is a requirement for leaders to lead the rest and publish their discoveries.

His argument portrays laziness and following down the path of the “BIG DIVORCE” and shall I say, “with no money”.

The government would much rather have a stupid and ignorant population so they can take advantage of them much more easily as opposed to a population with smarts. These are traps they want you to get into because it is more money for government.

My college time introduced me to a wide range of concepts and constructs that I might not have discovered on my own. I also learned how to gather a lot of data from diverse sources and was shown a workable method for sorting and compiling data for introspection and analysis.

Dale Stevens is right about many paths to personal development. My brother joined the Army and went to Viet Nam. He learned teamwork, discipline and strength under fire plus he saw a lot more of the world than I did through four years of college and two years of graduate study. My cousin learned specialty metal machining and served an apprenticeship in agribusiness that brough him much more money than I earned through public service.

I taught far too many college students who thought the ‘magic’ was in the piece of paper rather than in personal growth through academic experiences. They were wasting public money, scholarship money, some of their own money and lots of time ‘running in place.’

For Mr. Stevens’ views to ‘pay off’ during a lifetime of work, employers would have to wake up and realize that the mere fact of having a degree may not correlate with job needs. A person who earned a mediocre record and a BA/BS might not be any better in a position than a motivated highschool graduate who paid attention and thought about what his teachers were presenting.

Reason 6: The best jobs require a college degree, which is used by employers as an easy and cost-free screening device. You might be the greatest computer programmer in the world, but without the BSCS the best jobs will be closed to you, unless you start your own company and become successful on your own terms, which, while a laudable goal, is a high-risk path for which most people are not suited.

Stephens is missing one of the points of going to college – to make your mind more sophisticated.

If you are getting the same education in college that you did in high school then you are going to the wrong college or taking the wrong classes

College is supposed to be about learning to think clearly and be creative rather than the more rote learning style of high school (which I object to strenuously).

I teach or coach at a combined elementary/middle school, 2 high schools and a major university. Young brains need simple and direct education. High schoolers need more exposure to the real world in a more sophisticated way. College instructors should be asking kids to understand the world the way it is and to learn how to change into what you want it to be.

If you college education is just getting your ready for a job you are not getting what you should out of it. You should be at a technical school.

There are good reasons not to go to college (such as it not providing the right kind of learning environment), and there are good reasons to wait and work or travel before going (maturity, sense of purpose). But Dale Stephens’ reasons are not very good at all. If he thinks all college is about is rote memorization and standardized tests, he either went to the wrong college or took the wrong courses. Or both.

I teach university English, and while I do want my students to memorize some material (it’s silly not to *know* anything when you’re done a course), I structure my courses to teach analysis, research skills, the crafting of rigorous arguments, how to plan and carry out independent projects, and so on. Mr. Stephens does not really know what happens in good universities. While students should think seriously about why they want to go to college and the level of debt they take on to do so, they might want to take the advice of a 20 year-old with little experience of the institution with a grain of salt.

Too many students with few intellectual interests choose academic study after high school when they might better thrive in learning something practical – perhaps in a school or college setting, perhaps as an apprentice, perhaps in doing something entrepreneurial, perhaps simply by keeping their eyes open.

But to champion “uncollege” is not enough, any more than it’s enough to say “be creative” or “get motivated.” I wish he and The Choice had more to say about finding and nurturing your creative impulses, about growing a mindset to make the most of opportunities. These are things that energize you and carry you forward as vs. simply
occupying space in a college classroom or languishing an a routine or dead-end job.

time out – i read this article before. we still need professionals in fields that require a high degree of specific training, such as science, medicine, engineering, law, etc. in order to keep enough of a flow of people into the pipeline of these professions, many more will have to start off in them than actually finish, thus adding more to the ranks of those in fields where specific training isn’t required (such as more general liberal arts, business, etc.). we must not forget that the last couple of decades have seen a rise in the success of those in business and finance, where it is possible to succeed without a degree, relative to the professions requiring a certification. this may not last and is not stable.

This piece may accurately represent Mr Stephen’s view, but whatever the origin, the framing of the argument betrays much of the denigration of education – especially higher education – in America.

Consider the discarding of facts in this quote: “What you learn in college is generally the same skill set that you learn in a traditional school environment,” he said. “You learn how to follow directions, meet deadlines and memorize facts.” Now I’m as critical as anyone on rote memorization for its own sake, but how can one apply facts if one does not remember facts?

To discard facts is to condemn ourselves to throwing away all prior discovery and aggregated knowledge. Making a demigod of experiential learning also condemns us to perpetually reinventing the wheel. As quoted, Mr Stephen’s correctly observes that psychology courses are not sufficient to practice as a psychologist, but fails to respect that psychology courses are necessary to training a skilled psychologist.

But perhaps most tellingly, journalism widely practices along the lines Mr Stephens advocates – placing opposing views on equal footing because journalists have forsaken a basic responsibility to learn, know, and apply facts. Thankfully, journalists have backed away from giving Holocaust deniers with survivors. And yet, climate change deniers and corporate flak-catchers are given equal time.

If some chose not to be schooled, perhaps the rest of us should enroll as self-defense.